The household savings rate is defined as household’s gross savings divided by the household’s gross disposable income, with the latter being adjusted for the change in pension entitlement of households. Gross savings is the remainder of the household’s gross disposable income which has not been spent as final consumption expenditure. Therefore, the savings rate increases when gross disposable income grows at a higher rate than final consumption expenditure.

Household investment mainly consists of the purchase and renovation of dwellings. In 2016, the household investment rate was highest In Luxembourg (11.4%), the Netherlands (11.3%) and Finland (10.8%), followed by Belgium (10.1%) and Germany (9.3%). Portugal (4.4%) and Latvia (4.5%) recorded the lowest household investment rates in the EU in 2016.